Events of Holy Week

Verses

Reflections

The night before Jesus is arrested he has a final meal with his friends. They share simple food; unleavened bread and wine. He indicates that he is about to offer his life for his friends and the bread and wine will be his body and blood.

Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Luke 22:17-19

WHAT HAPPENED?

REFLECTION

Think of the meals that we share with family and friends. How often do we take for granted the food that we eat while two thirds of the world’s population worry about where their next meal will come from?

Jesus is the Son of God; the Son of the Creator of the world, yet he takes our sins upon himself in order that the world might be renewed.

WHAT HAPPENED?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible … all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15-17

REFLECTION

Take time to reflect on the wonderful gift of God’s world. All things have come into being through Christ. The creation is of immeasurable value. Pope Francis speaks of the earth as ‘our common home’. Think of one aspect of the natural world that you love; the stars, the mountains, the ocean... All of these things tell us something of the greatness and majesty of God.

WHAT HAPPENED?

After his trial, Jesus took the cross he was given to begin his journey to Golgotha.

… though he was in the form of God, (Christ Jesus) did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:6-8

REFLECTION

Jesus took upon himself our failures and thoughtlessness. When has our selfishness injured others? Injured our world? Think of a time when your actions caused harm to the created world; when you mistreated the earth by littering, wasting food or demanding more games and more devices even when you already had enough.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The cross Jesus carries is heavy and he falls down under its weight. Is there anyone there to help him or is he all alone? So disfigured was he, the people turned away.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4-5

REFLECTION

Who are the people in our world who are easier to ignore? Why do we want to get involved in their troubles?

WHAT HAPPENED?

Jesus meets the women on the road to Calvary. One of them, reaches up and wipes the sweat and blood from his face.

…let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:7

REFLECTION

Who are the people who need our help today?Victims of natural disasters? Victims of man-made disasters?

WHAT HAPPENED?

In the middle of his nightmare walk Jesus meets his mother. Imagine what it must have felt like for him to see her loving face.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:12-13

REFLECTION

When we are going through a hard time think of how comforting it can be to see the face of someone who loves us.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Jesus you knew what it was like to fall down over and over again, just as we do. Was it hard for you to pick yourself up again and keep going?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus ... who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross ...

Hebrews 12:1-2

REFLECTION

In Cambodia, indigenous people have been trying hard to protect their ancestral forests. Many times they send out village patrols to find that someone has come in the middle of the night and cut down a big tree. Still they keep patrolling and trying to protect their land.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

This time when Jesus falls there is someone there to help him up and to carry his cross.

REFLECTION

God wants us to bear one another’s burdens. Pope Francis says,Disregard for the duty to cultivate and maintain a proper relationship with my neighbour... ruins my relationship with myself, with others, with God and with the earth.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Jesus looks down at those who have crucified him and asks God to forgive them acknowledging that they do not really understand what is happening and the significance of the event.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:34

REFLECTION

This year we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Pope Francis wants us to experience the mercy that God has for us. We are also called to show mercy to others. Think about how you can do this.

WHAT HAPPENED?

At the eleventh hour Jesus hears the cry of the thief who asks to go to heaven with him. The good thief is desperate but he also has great faith, crying out to Jesus before he dies.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

Psalm 130:1-2

REFLECTION

In his most recent encyclical Pope Francis calls us to ‘hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’. He points out the poor, who have contributed the least to climate change, are suffering the most from its consequences.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Jesus takes his last breath and then gives up his spirit to God. His mother and some of his followers stand at the foot of the cross weeping.

A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.

Matthew 2:18

REFLECTION

Who are the people who are mourning today? Those who have lost loved ones? Experienced casualties in war? Those who have lost family members and friends in natural disasters?

WHAT HAPPENED?

Jesus’ body is taken down from the cross and laid in an empty tomb. The women cannot stay there. They have to return home to prepare for their holy day, the Sabbath.

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:24

REFLECTION

For us, death and loss seem like a disaster. We want our lives to always run smoothly. Jesus death and resurrection teaches us to have hope even when all seems hopeless. After the earthquake in Christchurch people were very sad and overwhelmed. There was a lot of mess to be cleaned up and work to be done so that people could begin to rebuild their lives. People were surprised at how their neighbours offered them support and help. The student volunteer army provided 75,000 hours of free labour to help people clear up their properties after the earthquake in February 2011.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The women return to the tomb early on Sunday morning to find that the stone has been rolled away and that Jesus is not there. The angels tell them, ‘Jesus is not here. He has risen.’

...for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.1 Corinthians 15:22

REFLECTION

Our belief in the resurrection of Jesus means that death is not the end.It is simply a change from one life to another. In the ‘new life’ there will be no more struggles. Sometimes people get so used to fighting for what they need that they almost don’t know how to act when the struggle is over.

CONCLUDING PRAYERE te Atua ake ake, Eternal God,Out of your great generosity you brought the world into being and gave it life. Then you gave it yourself, on the cross of human suffering. Such priceless, painful giving! Did you invite us here to show us that? Then show it to us once more O God! Show us a different kind of world, a different cost of living where the pain will not be eased by the money we spend on ourselves but by the way we spend ourselves for others and the way we value life.

E te Atua ake ake, Eternal God,Out of your great generosity, make us generous; bring us into being.

Amen. (The Micah Challenge New Zealand)